Girls

SAVANNAH — The Bradwell Lady Tigers finished the Joe Greene Classic basketball tournament at an even .500 with a two-game split.

Bradwell beat Woodville-Tompkins 63-41, but could not overcome the height difference of Atlanta-area Arabia Mountain in losing 48-38.

The Joe Greene has long been a Savannah Thanksgiving tradition. Beach, with its brand new facility, hosed the tournament.

In the opening round, the Lady Tigers took on recently revived Savannah-Chatham County Public School Woodville-Tompkins. Woodville-Tompkins last competed in GHSA in the late 1980s.

Even though players were not in classes last week for Thanksgiving, Bradwell showed it was alert and ready against Woodville-Tompkins.

The Lady Tigers launched an early offensive barrage, establishing a comfortable lead. Raina Richardson hit two treys for a game-leading
22 points, forcing Woodville-Tompkins to move out on the perimeter to cover the Lady Tigers’ guards.

Once the defense began to contain the outside shooting that was the scoring threat for Bradwell, the Lady Tigers were able to penetrate the paint and add layups. The Lady Tigers also found success in what has been a staple for coach Faye Baker, using defense to create buckets off the transition game. Bradwell took a comfortable 38-24 lead into the locker room at halftime and stayed in control in the second half.

Alyssa McDuffie put in 15 points, and Brianna Johnson added nine.

The tourney gives area teams a chance to see teams they may not face during the regular season. Bradwell faced this harsh truth against Arabia Mountain in the second game of the Classic.

Arabia Mountain had a fast start, dominating Bradwell with zone defense, and took control of rebounding on both ends.

Bradwell would eventually scrap and claw to get back into the game, but a powerful inside game and sleek ball movement gave Arabia Mountain an 18-4 lead after the first quarter.

The Lady Tigers got open shots off of ball movement, but had problems getting the ball to go in the basket on second attempts.

Bradwell continued to trail, but tried to mount a comeback in the final minutes of the fourth quarter. Johnson led Bradwell on her own four-point scoring run, and she deflected an inbound and was fouled attempting a layup. Johnson finished with
11 points, with seven of those coming in the fourth quarter.

McDuffie led the Lady Tigers in the scoring department with 13 points. Autiana Hightower contributed six points.

Bradwell moves to 2-2 on the season and will open Region 3-AAAAA play Tuesday, hosting the Effingham County Lady Rebels. On Friday, the Lady Tigers go on the road to face region foe South Effingham and end the week Saturday night at home against Tattnall County at home.

Boys

SAVANNAH — The Bradwell Tigers were able to outlast Woodville-Tompkins 36-31 in the opening game of the
2015 Joe Greene Classic.

Judging from the opening offensive possession, it looked like it would be a long afternoon for Bradwell when, after one pass, a Tiger guard fired an errant three pointer from the left corner.

However, using his bench, coach Rhett Hellgren found a combination that settled down and started to play offensive-minded ball, moving inside to create scoring opportunities on other parts of the floor.

Tarrus Dennard came off the bench to give the Tigers added presence inside. He provided rebounding help and chipped in five points.

Trailing 21-20 at the half, the Tigers needed a revived effort in the final minutes of the game and found it in Jyanti Haggray, who had six of his eight points in the fourth quarter.

Darryl Johnson and Jordan Alexander finished with six points each.

Bradwell fell 56-32 to New Hampstead in the second game of the Classic Wednesday afternoon at Beach. New Hampstead is playing only its second season of GHSA competition since opening in 2013. The Phoenix had size and speed advantages, but Bradwell did settle in after New Hampstead’s run-and-gun offense took a fast 4-0 lead.

Hellgren took a timeout and, after taking a collective breath, the Tigers were able to move the ball and get shots under and around the basket. They just didn’t fall through the net.

Trailing 8-0 in the first quarter, Bradwell got its first points when junior Johnson’s high-arcing three-pointer bounced off the back of the hoop and then swished through.

New Hampstead proved to be too much for Bradwell, building a 25-11 lead late in the first half. The Phoenix’s Domonick Cooper had two slam dunks.

The Tigers continued to play with passes flying through the flailing of arms of the New Hampstead defenders. Alexander was able to catch a ball in the middle of the New Hampstead zone and put in a touch hook shot, keeping the Tigers
17 down.

New Hampstead scored on its final possession of the half, taking a 34-15 lead to the locker room. The Phoenix held Bradwell to only four points in the third quarter.

Drawing from the roots of traditionally strong Chatham County basketball, New Hampstead had lost its opener to Savannah superpower Johnson 63-61, but was able to record a 71-65 overtime win against a fast-starting, aggressive Richmond Hill team. The Wildcats are a Region 3-AAAAA foe of the Tigers.

Because the Phoenix had put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter, both teams went to the bench to give their reserves playing time. One bright spot for the Tigers was that junior Anthony Vicente came off the bench and deposited nine points off three treys, making a pair in the last two minutes.

Alexander also had six points for the Tigers.

Bradwell falls to 2-2 on the season. The Tigers have a busy schedule against Region 3-AAAAA opponents. They will host the Effingham Rebels on Tuesday and travel to South Effingham on Friday night before coming back to Bradwell to host a non-conference game against Tattnall County on Saturday.